At the May 4th City Council meeting, the City Council adopted a resolution to support Measure E, the parcel tax. At the meeting, many community members came out to both urge support or tell the Council to not support the Measure. Apparently at the meeting one of the representatives from the opponents side was there filming folks. When I heard about that, I thought that was sort of odd given that the proceedings are filmed and placed online anyway, so it was sort of overkill.

Turns out there was a reason why he was filming was to produce this lovely gem of a video:

For those who would rather not be subjected to the ridiculousness of it all, I’ll digest it for you.

The first slide talks about how the majority of Measure E supporters live in the Otis, Edison, and Franklin elementary school zones and that they don’t want their kids going to school with poor West End kids, like, I guess, my kids. Then the slide prepares the viewers for a taste of what those bigoted East Enders look like.

Insert photos of people who are either sitting in an audience or speaking at that May 4th City Council meeting. Personally, I enjoyed the photo of Rob Siltanen (spelled Stiltanen in the video) who was identified as wearing the “tweed jacket.” Of course, lumping Rob Siltanen of the Tweed Jackets with the East End elites was completely in error, the West End has already claimed Rob Siltanen as one of our own. There are some other West Enders grouped in with the East End elites, but let’s not let facts get in the way of rhetoric, right?

But anyway, after showing this bunch of Measure E supporters the video jumps to black and asks “Notice Anything?”

I am assuming, given the strategic tactic that the Committee Against Measure E has been taking that we are suppose to notice that they are all white.

Clutch the pearls!

Here’s the ironic part of the whole thing. You know that City Council meeting where most of the photos came from? Yeah, the one when the community members came out to speak for and against Measure E? Yeah…all the opponents are white too. From the video feed:

Opponent #1 = white (55:20 on the video feed)

Opponent #2 = white (1:00:55 on the video feed)

Opponent #3 = white (1:09:39 on the video feed)

Nary a person of color or a “working class” looking person in the bunch. But I suppose that is not as relevant a fact as long as you are the ones hyping the whole “They’re RACISTS” bit.

Hey, you know the only people of color that actually spoke that night about Measure E were Councilmembers Lena Tam and Marie Gilmore and both are supporting Measure E.

Kind of interesting that the person who did the filming for this video sends his kid to private school. Could it be because he doesn’t want his kids associating with the kids of the working class stiffs who send their kids to public school?

5. David Howard lives one block from Washington School at [edited]. Yet he won’t send his son there out of, in Mr. Howard’s own words “fear that (his) dearest little one might have to .. rub elbows with some ESL or inter-district transfer students at Washington..”.

How many English learners in your son’s classroom, David? Not as many as in any of the Alameda public elementary schools. The discrepancy between your public comments and your private actions reminds me of another righteous figure – former U.S. Senator Larry Craig. C’mon out of the closet you racist.

#13 Yes, and note that the current method is (1) the same method other local cities are using and (2) the only legal method available, since the State has abdicated its responsibility to fund education. Other local cities have voted in parcel taxes for education, as the newspapers have reported.

#14. And some have not. Did you see Alexandra W’s letter in the Sun today? Real life description of what happens when class sizes rise and consolidation forces kids out of their neighborhoods. I know her; she is a gifted, multi-lingual teacher and a mother.

Classy! Nothing like a map of political opponents’ homes to foster good will in the community. That plus race-baiting shows just how low the opponents of Measure E are willing to go. I guess when you can’t win on the facts, you have to resort to sleazy tactics.

#19, Alas, Grown-Up, I think that the Committee Against Measure E is engaging in these kinds of harassing techniques specifically to distract us from “the real, genuinely difficult issues facing our schools and our town.”

So to anyone featured in — or affected by — this video, I’d like to say go out and campaign. Focus on Measure E. Do what you know is right.